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Show 110 TRAVL~L' TIIROUGII NORTH AMERICA: clafs of r oplc th~t plrtakc of thefc amnfemcnts. a~ the. tavern ' in pi.l.- atc th ·rc is, pcrhap , as little gambling in Virgm1a as 111 :llly.othcr part of mcrica. The circumfhnce of l1 :wing the tavt:rns thu mfdl:cd by fu ·h a ict of people renders travelling extremely unplcaCant. Many tim s I have been fore d to proceed much farther in a day than I have withccl, in order to a aid the fc enes of rioting and quarrelling that I h ave met with at the tavern , which it is impoiliblc to cfcapc as long as you remain in the iame hou fc where they arc carried on, for every apartment is confidered as common, and that room in which a flranger f1ts down is fure to be the moO: frequented. When ver thdc people come to blows, they fi ght j ufl: like wil~ beafl:~, biting, k icking, an l endeavouring to tear each other's eyes out w1th then· n ails . It i by no means uncommon to meet with thofc who have loft an eye in a combat, and there are men who pride themfclves upon the dt:xt ·rity with which they can fcoop one out. This is called gonging. To perform the horrid operation, the combatant twifl:s hi forefingers in the iide locks of his advcrfary's hair, and then applies his thumbs to the b ottom of the eye, to force it out of the focket. If ever there is a battle, in which neither of thofe engaged lofes an eye, their faces arc however gcnrrally cut in a 010cking manner with the thumb nails, in the many attempts which arc made at gouging. llut what is w0rfe than all, thefc wretches in their combat endeavour to their utmofi to tear out each other's tefiiclcs. Four or five infiances came within my own obfervation, as I paffed through Maryland and Virginia, of men being confined in their beds from the injuries which they had received of this nature in a fight. In the Carolinas and Ge<Drgia, I have been credibly aifured, that the people are ilill more depraved in this refpeCt than in Virginia, and that in fame particular parts of thefe fiates, every third or fourth man appears with one eye. B I R D S 0 F V I R G I N I A. ,JII L E T T E R XV. Difcription of Vz'rgz'ma bet1.veen Ric!Jmond and the Mountaim.-Fragrance qf Flowers and Shrubs in ti.J11 Woods.-Melody if the Birds.-Of ti.Je Bzi·ds qf Virginia.-Mocking Bti·d.-B!ue Bird.-Red Bird, &c.-Stizgu!ar Noifcs of t!1e Progs.-Columbia.-Magazine there.-Fi·re Flies in the liYoods.-Green Springs.-Wretchedmfs of the Accommodation then:.D! iJimltyof finding the Way through the WoodJ.-Srrpmts.-Rntt!e-Snake. -Copper-Suake.-B!ack Srzake.-Sortth- wfjl, or Grem J."'vfountatizs.Soil of thr:m.-Mountain Ton·mts do great Damage.-Salubrity if the Cltinate.-Grr:at Beauty if the Pcrrfimtry.-Mcmy Gelltlf'mm qj ProjJcrty living bere.-Monticello, the Seat qj'M1·. Jejji?jon.-Vineyards.-Ob-flrvations orJ. the Culture qj'the Grape, and the Mam!faClurr: of Wim. Monticello, May. H AV IN G {l:aid at Richmond fomewhat longer than a week, which I found abfolutcly necefTitry, if it had only been to recruit the :ll:rength of my horfes, that had been half {brved in coming from Norfolk, I proceeded in a north-wefl:erly direetion towards the South-weft or Green Mountains. The country about Richmond is [andy, but not fa much fa, nor as flat as on the fouth fide of James River towards the fea. It now wore a mofi pleafing afpeet. The fidl week in May had arrived; the trees had obtained a confidcrable part of their foliage, and the air in the woods was perfumed with the fi·agrant fmcll of numberlefs flowers aml floweri1 g fhrubs, which fprang up on all fides. The mufic of the birds was alfo delightful. It is thought that in Virginia the finging birds are .finer than what are to be met with on any other part of the continent, as the climate is more cong-.nial to them, being neither fa intcnfely hot in fummer as that of the C. rolinas, nor fa cold in winter as that of the more northern fiates. The not s of the mocking bird or Virginian nightingale arc in particular mofi melodious. This bird is of the co-lour |
